Welcome to the Gatewater!
by Insomaniac
Summary: After the last case of Justice for All, Phoenix and Maya take a well deserved vacation. But in a honeymoon suite? This is just asking for trouble.
1. Day 0, 9:00 PM Hotel Ballroom

Hehe, first post in a long time, eh? Don't worry, I haven't forsaken my other stories yet; I'm just getting this one out of my head for a little while, though it shouldn't be too long before another chapter is up (if it is well-received). I haven't decided on any pairings yet, so that will come later. Anyway, enough of my ranting, let's get on to the story.

See profile for generic disclaimer.

* * *

All was finally well in the world, thought Phoenix Wright, defense attorney extraordinaire, or as he liked to refer to himself as. He had just finished one of the most difficult cases in his career, and had his assistant returned to him after three whole days of anxiety. Now he was feasting upon some of the greatest food that he had ever tasted in his lifetime. Never mind that he had lost the case, and that he was tonight's patron, those troubles seemed insignificant next to the celebration that was well due.

Edgeworth had left a little while ago, though only touching little of his meal. 'Lucky bum,' he thought. 'He must have food this good so often that he thinks little of leaving it here.' But even though he thought that, he noticed that he himself was leaving a sizable amount as he was approaching his limit.

"Hey Nick, are you going to finish that?" Apparently Maya had noticed too, though her mouth was more or less stuffed with food.

"Well, you could have some if you like." Even before the words had exited his mouth, Maya had already scooped off half the plate. Phoenix sighed. He should have seen that coming. He was surprised that the girl could eat that much, but he supposed being starved for three days could do that to a person. Probably. "Hey, I said you could have some, not all of it!"

As opposed to the earlier excitement, the rest of the party ended peacefully. Everyone had become tired and full, now wishing for a bed. The bill arrived, much to Phoenix's sorrow, and was paid with a tear-stained check and some crumpled bills for tip. 'At least everyone volunteered to pay tip…'

From there, everyone went their separate ways, aside from Phoenix, Maya, and Pearl, who waited for the leftovers to be packed up. Maya went to go get the food while Phoenix waited by the exit with Pearl. He felt a tug at his sleeve and turned to see Pearl's excited eyes.

"I'm so happy that you were able to help out Mystic Maya, Mr. Nick!"

"Yes, I'm so relieved too. It was a rough three days."

"And I'm so happy for the two of you!"

"N-now Pearl, me and Maya…"

"Speaking of… I heard that this place was popular for honeymoons, so… I made reservations for the two of you… just in case…" Pearl hid her eyes behind her open fingers in a shy way. Phoenix stared at her dumbfounded.

"Wh-what? H-how did-?" The shock of Pearl's statement made him stammer. Maya showed up behind Pearl with bags of food.

"Hey Nick, what's wrong? You look as if they added an extra zero to the bill."

"Pearls reserved a honeymoon suite for you and me at the hotel." Maya nearly dropped the bags of food.

"Wh-what?" she looked at pear in surprise. "How? I didn't even know you knew how to reserve rooms in a hotel."

Pearl shook her head. "I didn't. Ms. Camera Lady did it for me." Phoenix could almost picture Lotta laughing in revenge for not paying for her camera.

Phoenix held his head in his hands. How was he going to pay for such an expensive room? Maybe he should have paid for that camera; it would have been a little cheaper. Maya addressed his problem for him.

"Pearly, who's going to pay for the room? Even though Nick likes to spend his money, I don't think he could afford something so nice for himself." As Maya said that, Phoenix felt two invisible arrows piercing him. 'A, it's not like I like spending money, you always force me, and B, even though I really can't afford it, can't you say it a bit nicer?'

"Don't worry, Mr. Nick doesn't have to pay anything." The comment made the two of them pause, and then they looked at Pearl in confusion.

"Huh? Then, who's paying for the room?" Phoenix went through a small list of possible suspects. 'Lotta would never take a joke this far, not when she could be spending it on her camera. The Kurain family was never this rich, so that was out of the question. Edgeworth... couldn't be because he doesn't have that much of a sense of humor anyways...'

"It's free."

Both Phoenix and Maya stared at each other in confusion. "Huh? How is it free?"

"I won it."

Pearl then explained to them how this lady was distributing this thing called a "ser-vay" and that if someone filled out the "ser-vay," they could win fabulous prizes. The lady wouldn't give Pearl one, but she picked up one that someone had just dropped. Mr. Scruffy Detective helped her fill it out, and also handed it in for her, in a game called a "raf-ful." Her "ser-vay" won the "raf-ful" and Mr. Scruffy Detective picked up the prize.

"And the prize was a three day, two night reservation for a honeymoon suite. Mr. Scruffy Detective gave it to me because he said he didn't need it, because it said the offer only lasted six months. And then he started crying for some reason." 'Poor Gumshoe, too busy with his job that he can't get a girlfriend…'

So the reservation was free. However, even though he wasn't paying for it, he still couldn't imagine staying in a honeymoon suite with Maya. He just didn't see her in that way. "Pearls, I don't think we can-" Maya effectively silenced Phoenix by slapping him on the back. Hard.

"Pearly, do you think you could watch the food for a few minutes? Nick and I need to talk about something."

Pearl eagerly nodded, thinking that they were going to exchange words of love. She covered her eyes with open fingers as they walked beyond earshot.

Phoenix could contain himself no longer. "What was that for? It really hurt, you know." Phoenix swore that he would be able to accurately describe Maya's fingerprints from the stinging sensation on his back

"Oh, suck it up, Nick. You were about to turn down Pearly's offer! You can't do that, not after all the work she did to get that room! Can't you imagine how disappointed she'd be?"

"Well, yeah, but it's a honeymoon suite, and…"

"So what? How much different could a honeymoon suite be from a regular room?"

"B-but it's for honeymooners and…" Come to think of it, he had no idea what a honeymoon suite was supposed to look like. "Well, I've never seen one, so I don't know the difference."

"Then what's the problem? Besides," she let out a small smile. "Think of it as a well deserved, all-expense paid vacation. Would you ever turn down a free vacation?"

Phoenix was starting to "Well, a vacation does sound nice…"

Maya clapped her hands. "So then it's settled." She dragged Phoenix back over to where Pearl was waiting. "Hey Pearly, we decided that it would be nice to stay in the hotel for a few days. Thanks a bunch."

"Really?" Pearl opened her eyes wide in excitement. If Maya hadn't been able to convince Phoenix into accepting the room, he had a feeling that he would have anyway just to see Pearl happy.

"Yup, we accept. Thanks very much." How bad could it be? It's not that him and Maya were awkward semi-lovers or anything. It was just going to be a relaxing vacation…

…Right?

* * *

It's a bit generic and repetitively annoying, but please supply me with some feedback and review.


	2. Day 1, 8:00 AM Hotel Lobby

I guess this story got off to a pretty good start, as evident in the second chapter. The others might follow suite, if I feel up to it. Let's hope that it doesn't die here, like past attempts.

* * *

Maya returned to Kurain Village to place Pearl in the hands of other relatives while she took a break. While she invited Pearl to go with them, Pearl insisted that they spend some 'alone time' together, despite Maya's explanations to their relationship being strictly friendly.

She opened her wardrobe and sighed at her collection. While she was still an acolyte, she was not allowed to wear anything else besides the training uniform, and her selection of clothing reflected such. Everything was standardized, from outerwear and formal wear to swimsuits and underwear.

She packed the clothes into a small suitcase she had bought last year, when she became Phoenix's assistant. Because she moved between the office and the village so often, a spare set of clothes was necessary to bring with her. On the rare occasion she couldn't return to the village, she would have spare clothes, and could use the spare room in the office.

When she finished packing all her necessary belongings, she still had quite a bit of room left in her suitcase, lost of what else to fill it with. Then an idea dawned upon her.

'Wait till Nick gets a load of this!'

* * *

Phoenix went home to his own flat to pack. He hadn't gone on vacation for a while, so he had to air out his suitcase for a little, else the old, musty smell would get on his packed clothes. He threw in a little air freshener just in case.

"Okay, now to get out the vacation clothes." It would be a nice change to not have to wear a suit for once. He opened his closet and was greeted by a sea of blue suits and white shirts, with the occasional red tie. "Umm, this might be a little harder than I thought it would..."

* * *

"Mornin', Nick!" Maya was dragging behind her a small wheeled suitcase, though still in her acolyte clothes.

"Hello there, Maya." Phoenix carried a travel suitcase at his side and wore a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, looking more or less normal beside his oddly dressed companion.

"Woah Nick, I thought all you wore were suits and stuff." Maya teased, though she still sounded surprised.

"H-hey, I do have a life outside of my law office." Phoenix defended himself. 'But I really did have to dig these out from the back of my closet…' "Let's just go inside. My arms are starting to get tired."

"You're right, we're wasting valuable vacation time out here!" Even, though Phoenix had suggested it, it was Maya who had dragged him inside. Phoenix sighed and let himself be pulled.

'This is going to be a long three days…'

* * *

They walked up to the front desk in the lobby, which was being managed by a bored-looking middle-aged woman.

"Welcome to the Gatewater hotel. How may I help you?" She wasn't just bored-looking; she sounded bored too.

"I'd like to check into the room under Phoenix Wright. That's Phoenix like the bird and Wright W-R-I-G-H-T."

She typed something into the keyboard. "It says here that you have a honeymoon suite on reserve." She looked skeptically at the duo. Maya looked back with a smile.

"Yes, that's right. Is there a problem?"

"No, just double-checking. Can I just see some ID to confirm?"

"Oh, sure." Phoenix took out his wallet and took out his defense attorney ID. Though not as flashy as his attorney's badge, it was still vital for him to have, in case anything happened to his badge. It had a photo of him, as well as his ID number and various other important data.

"Hey, Nick, that's a pretty weird picture there." It was indeed. Phoenix's eyes were significantly narrowed, and his mouth had adapted a toothy scowl, nostrils flared.

"…The camera guy caught me just before I was about to sneeze. And he didn't let me retake it either." That was the other reason he kept it hidden.

Phoenix started to put his wallet away, but Maya stopped him, a gleam in her eye. His normally empty and forlorn-looking wallet had miraculously sprouted a few bills.

"Hey Nick, I'm kinda hungry. Can you lend me some money please?" She adopted her best _Maya-is-hungry­-and-amazingly-cute_ look. Phoenix, though not falling for the farce, sighed and reluctantly handed her a single dollar. "Thanks Nick, I'll pay you back later." She bounced happily away to the vending machine. Phoenix knew that was the last he was going to see of that dollar.

The receptionist cleared her throat. Phoenix turned to see her holding out his ID. "Ah, thank you." He hastily put it away before anybody else could catch a glimpse of the embarrassing photo.

The receptionist resumed her typing. "She's young."

It took a small while before Phoenix realized she was talking to him. "Excuse me?"

"Your wife. She's young. She must be a gold digger. Makes sense since you're a lawyer."

"G-gold digger?"

"You know, a girl who marries a rich guy just for his money. Doesn't matter if he's some young gun who struck it lucky in the lottery or some old guy who built his fortune from a company." She stopped typing to look at Phoenix. "Actually, I hear they prefer the old ones."

"N-now wait a minute! She's not my wife." He paused for a second. "And I'm only twenty-five!"

"Hmm? A girlfriend then? You're more or less robbing the cradle there. Though, I don't think your relationship is legal." Maya happily pattered back at this point, holding a half-empty bag of chips. "She doesn't even look eighteen yet."

Maya realized they were talking about her, but not of what. "Hey, just so you know, I turned eighteen three months ago! I can buy a lottery ticket and everything!" She huffed out her chest in pride. "…Though I haven't because gambling is bad, and I want to be a good role model for Pearly." She added, reassuring Phoenix.

"So you two are spending your first night together? How cute."

Maya was confused. "Huh? Nick? What is she talking about? What about our first night?" Phoenix mentally slapped himself.

"Ohh? This isn't your first night together?" She giggled. "You're so naughty…"

Frustrated, Phoenix was barely could contain his anger. "Listen, can you just give us our keys and tell us where the room is?"

"Oh, getting impatient, are we?"

Phoenix opted for silence, the best choice available to him. Any words that he said would cause the receptionist's already over-active imagination to run laps around her head.

She finished typing and two cards slid out of a slot in the computer. "Okay then, you two are in room 425, on the fourth floor, near the elevator on the right." She held them just beyond Phoenix's reach, so he had to move forward to get them.

As Phoenix leaned towards the receptionist, she whispered to him. "Everything you need should be in the bottom drawer of the left-hand bedside table." She gave him a wink. Phoenix went red. He snatched the keys and walked off quickly. Maya, confused for the whole time, quickly followed.

"Please enjoy your stay." The receptionist stated, rather suggestively, after them.

"Hey Nick, wait up!" She caught up to him at the elevator, where the button was already pressed. She wanted to push the button. "You surprised me there. What's wrong, you just suddenly left all of a sudden. Did the receptionist mention anything to you?"

Phoenix recalled what the receptionist mentioned to him. He turned to Maya and grabbed her shoulders. "Maya." He said in a rather serious tone.

Surprised by the sudden action, Maya barely muttered out a response. "Y-yes?"

"I forbid you from opening the bottom drawer of the left-hand side bedside table."

* * *

What is Maya packing? What is in the bedside table? Will we even see the room? Not even I know at this point. Yes, it's great to see an author with a sense of direction.


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